136 NATUKE AND SPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA 



but the most rudimentary and inchoate attempt at 

 horns. The neck vertebrse are, as in other mammals, 

 seven in number, but are excessively long. The 

 spurious hoofs common to most of the ruminants are 

 wanting in the giraffe ; the hoofs are divided, and in 

 shape somewhat resemble a huge and greatly elon- 

 gated cow's foot, if such a thing can be imagined. 

 Notwithstanding its size — and the " spoor," or foot- 

 print, of an old bull is enormous — the foot of a 

 giraffe is fairly symmetrical, especially in the just 

 mature animal, before the hoof has become worn and 

 broken. Unlike the hoof of a wild zebra, which 

 always remains perfect, intact, and hard as a flint, 

 the hoof of the giraffe becomes in old age, even in 

 the wild state, very worn and chipped. The nostrils 

 are furnished with a peculiar arrangement of muscles, 

 by which they can be opened or shut at will ; and it 

 has been suggested that this is a provision of nature 

 against the effects of passing sandstorms. I cannot 

 agree with this theory. The haunts of the giraffe, 

 usually dense thorny bush or low acacia forests, are 

 not much visited by sandstorms ; and if they were, 

 why should not the other fauna of the country be 

 similarly protected as to their nostrils ? I have little 

 doubt myself that this curious mechanism of sphinc- 

 ter muscles is merely a defence against the long 

 thorns of the acacias, amid which the giraffe loves to 

 browse ; and that the delicate interior of the nostril 



